Crown of Utama
by Jedd the Jedi
Summary: Lara Croft travels to Singapore, and along with old flame Alex West, uncover the truth of the mythical crown of Utama, and in unfamiliar lands must fight the influential forces who hope to wield the crown's power.
1. Arrival on the Fu Qi

LARA CROFT AND THE CROWN OF UTAMA

Chapter 1

The blades of the Colibri EC120B, among the quietest helicopters in the world, whirled near-silently overhead. In the Eurocopter's cockpit, its pilot pitched the nose the down, bringing the craft into a steep decline. Just below, men stood on the deck of the ship on which the helicopter would soon land. They pointed in shock overhead. The pilot smiled. She then skillfully stabilized the craft, as it touched down gently on the helipad.

Lady Lara Croft, The Countess of Abbingdon, had come to an underwater excavation site just off the coast of Singapore. Singapore wasn't where one would expect to find a "Tomb Raider" or adventurer: the city-state was a small, densely-occupied buzzing metropolis, the exact opposite of the South American jungles and Asian rainforests Lady Croft often found herself in. Nonetheless, she had offered to sponsor a dig off the island. It would be the country's first ever underwater excavation. From her earlier travels around Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as input from her friend and eccentric archaeologist Alister Fletcher, Lara had gathered that there would be something worth finding in these waters.

However, she had decided to keep what she was looking for a secret, instead leading the authorities to believe this was just a routine excavation. She had not wanted to raise anybody's hopes, after all. Under the advice of her lawyers, Lara had decided to "de-enigmatise" herself by publicly sponsoring archaeological digs. Perhaps the community would learn to respect her more that way. Lara exited the craft, removing her helmet to reveal a long, braided pony-tail. She then unzipped her flight suit, just to tease a little.

A young, Chinese man came forward, extending his hand. He seemed nervous, which was the effect Lara had on almost everyone she met for the first time, especially the men. Perhaps it was her indomitable air, her inherent strength – or just her stunning looks. The man introduced himself as Captain Blake Tan. "Delighted", Lara answered, her crisp British accent slicing through the humid evening air. Captain Tan then proceeded to show Lara her cabin in the bowels of the ship, christened "Fu Qi", Mandarin for good fortune.

Lara descended into the ship, through the narrow corridors, passing by laboratories and research stations, as well as several cabins. "Oh, I'm sorry Lady Croft, but you will be sharing your cabin with another guest", Captain Tan informed Lara. Lara seemed hardly taken aback.

"Perhaps you refer to the other supervising archaeologist?" Lara asked, a smile touching her lips. Captain Tan nodded and ushered Lara in. The cabin was small, with a double-decker bunk and a sink in the corner. It did have its own attached bathroom, though. The cabin's other occupant sat half-dressed on his bunk. He smiled.

"Well, well, well. Alex West." The last time she met her fellow tomb raider and sometimes-rival was when Manfred Powell attempted gaining control of the Triangle of Light, and she had narrowly rescued him from certain death.

Alex seemed pleased to see her again. "Enjoying Singapore, Lara?" he asked.

She looked him the eye, teasing "I've yet to decide if you're making this particular visit more or less enjoyable."

Alex broke into a smirk. "Still the same old Lara Croft. They told me you'd be coming."

"Well, here I am. What are you doing here?" She asked, looking quizzically at Alex.

Alex shrugged. "I've been travelling around the area for the past couple of months, doing research. The Singaporeans wondered if I might help supervise the operation. Hey, you're not the only big name around."

Lara's eyes narrowed. "There is something in it for you, isn't there, mercenary?"

Alex smiled slightly, "does no one believe in redemption these days?" He pulled Lara close, and they kissed passionately.

Somehow, Lara found herself unable to pull away. "When was our relationship more than professional?" Lara managed between lip-locks.

Alex answered with a smile, and retorted "since when was it more than personal?" Lara looked away. She never managed to forget Alex West, especially after the incident near Siberia. As if reading her mind, Alex said, "I never got to thank you, Lara".

Lara ran her hand down the nape of his neck. "Well, now you can," she replied with a smile.

It was half an hour after eleven late in the evening and Lara lay awake, thinking. That evening had been fairly productive – in terms of archaeological results, of course. Pottery shards and evidence of shipwrecked Dutch trading ships were what the team uncovered. It was, however, nothing groundbreaking by Lara's book. Measured against artifacts such as the Atlantean Scion, the Obscura paintings and the Wheels of Ezekiel, these were of little significance. Lara was also wondering about Alex, who lay asleep on the top bunk. She had let her guard down and she enjoyed being with him. Still, Lara wondered if trusting him would be a good descision. He was, after all, helping the bad guys the last time she ran into him. Also, there was that incident in Nepal where he stole her prayer wheels.

Suddenly, Lara roused. She heard something. Lara reached for her Desert Eagle under the pillow. Despite Singapore's strict regulations with regards to firearms, Lara had somehow managed to obtain a license to carry the weapons that served her throughout her career. Lara peeked out the porthole. Nothing. She frowned. Lara sat up, pulling the sheets around her. After considering for a few moments, she slipped out of bed and pulled a tank top over her perfect form. After getting quickly dressed, she left her cabin, still clutching the weapon. She prowled along the corridors.

Then she heard it again.

The sound of gunfire, though faint, still distinct. Lara rushed to the deck of the ship, trying to avoid detection. She edged around a corner, and brought the powerful binoculars she always carried to her eyes. Nothing was visible on the seas in the pitch darkness. Lara activated the night-vision built into the binoculars. She scanned the horizon, and then saw it. Small speedboats, the kind used by modern-day pirates around the area, who terrorized the Malacca Straits.


	2. Attacked

Crown of Utama Chapter 2

There was just one problem. The expedition was nowhere near the Malacca Straits. Pirates never dared come into Singaporean Waters. Even the crazy few who wished to have no such capabilities – the Singaporean coast guard was vigilant and overpowering. Lara's eyes narrowed. Something definitely was not right. She rushed back into the Fu Qi, pounding on the door of Captain Tan's door.

"_Wah lau_, you know what time…" Captain Tan mumbled as he got to his feet. He opened the cabin door. "Lady Croft! I…"

"There is no time. You've been attacked by pirates, Captain."

Captain Tan was even more surprised than Lara had been. "_Hai Dao_? Lady Croft, _bie nao zhe wan'r_!" Code-switching was among the quirks of Singlish, the English-based creole language native to Singapore. In this case, Captain Tan was combining elements of Mandarin and English.

Lara managed to piece together what he meant, since she spoke both proficiently. "This is no joke, captain."

Captain Tan continued, "_Wo you gen_ Coast Guard _zuo guo…hai dao bu…bu…_"

By this time, Lara was more than a little exasperated. "Look, I don't bloody care if you've worked with the coast guard," she snapped, her accent clashing oddly with his. Captain Tan nodded, rushed to the bridge and sounded the alarm.

Lara ran back to her cabin, gathering her things and trying to wake Alex up. "Lara…" Alex groggily managed, "just now wasn't enough?" He smiled sheepishly.

Lara had had quite enough. "Look Alex, hurry up. We're being…" Lady Croft's sentence was cut short by a masked figure crashing through the porthole in their cabin, a blazing machine gun in his hand.

Bullet holes punctured the cabin walls, as the masked assailant pinned Alex to the ground. "Lara!" Alex exclaimed. A well-placed kick to the head from Lady Croft had the pirate dazed. Lara threw the stunned Alex a Desert Eagle and picked the pirate's weapon up. Alex followed Lara up to the deck, passing by the bodies of dead crew members. "This is a damn excavation ship! Why the hell do they want to attack it?!" Alex exclaimed.

"My thoughts exactly. Now get to the deck before these buggers blow us all up!" Lara replied.

By the time Lady Croft and Alex West made their up to the deck, things weren't pretty. Sailors scrambled into lifeboats and those that didn't make it were gunned down mercilessly. The pair fought their way through their assailants. Lara clambered into the Colibri helicopter resting on the helipad on the far side of the ship. While Lara started the chopper up, Alex drove off the pirates attempting to prevent their escape. He then slammed the door shut. Now shielded by the Plexiglas, he and Lara were safe. The helicopter rose into the air, leaving the Fu Qi, now partially engulfed in flames, behind it. "So much for good fortune," Alex quipped.

The pirate speedboats – Lara counted eight – were fast disappearing from the scene. Lara sent the Colibri in quick pursuit. "Is this thing armed?!" Alex asked quizzically. Lara passed him the machine gun she salvaged earlier.

"Well, you are," she smiled.

Alex shot her an ugly glance as he reluctantly opened the helicopter door, leaning out of it precariously. The helicopter soon caught up with the first of the speedboats. Alex pumped a round or so into the craft, taking out the boat and its opponents. He fared similarly well when it came to the next couple of boats, the mercenaries riddled with bullets falling to the depths of the South China Sea. "Ha." Alex smiled. The International Maritime Bureau should be paying me!"

"The next one will be harder," Lara warned. The sight of the next boat wiped the confident smile off Alex's face. A pirate pointed quite the formidable weapon at the chopper.

"An RPG 29?!" Alex exclaimed."

"You never know what they can get off the black market these days," Lara smiled. The pilot fired a shot from the modified Soviet-made rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The warhead narrowly missed the helicopter, thanks to Lara's piloting skills. It then dodged another shot. "I can't keep this up for long, Alex…" Lara said through gritted teeth.

"I'm trying, damn it!" Alex answered. He managed to gun down everyone on the boat – apart from the guy holding the RPG.

The speedboat was small, and thus remarkably maneuverable. The pirate scowled from behind the weapon he was holding, now facing the side of the craft. This shot hit its intended target. Thankfully, the helicopter was hovering just the right distance off the surface of the water. Alex and Lara bolted, splashing into the water below. They swam as far as they could as the debris from the helicopter fell into the water below. The fire from the wreckage also managed to ignite the pirate's speedboat.

Lara and Alex stopped some distance away, where they spotted a Police Coast Guard Blackspot Loyang patrol boat floating in the water. They climbed on board. They found a coast guard officer dead, a bullet wound in his chest. Lara shook her head. "These were no ordinary pirates. Someone wants the same thing we do."

"Isn't that always the case," Alex muttered, somber. "What do we want, anyway?" Alex got to the controls of the boat, steering it back towards Singaporean territory.

"Let's inform the authorities, get ourselves someplace to stay, then I'll tell you."

"Sounds like a plan," Alex smiled.


	3. Late Night Snack

Crown of Utama Chapter 3

Several Tiger Ray Loyang patrol boats and a number of Spikefish interceptor boats lined the shore, as police helicopters circled above. Lara and Alex, driving the Blackspot Loyang they found earlier, neared the docks. "Looks like we have a bit of explaining to do," Lara muttered. A harsh searchlight washed over the boat the pair was commandeering.

"The both of you look extremely suspicious," the burly Sergeant Seet intoned.

"Look Sergeant," Alex began, "we're archaeologists. Our ship was attacked by pirates who somehow managed to overpower your coast guard. Look here, these bullet wounds on your man do not correspond to any weapons we are holding.

Sergeant Seet considered. "You know, I'd never believe you _ang mohs… _if not for my material witness here," Sergeant Seet said, pointing to Captain Blake Tan. Lara breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's all true, Sergeant," Captain Tan confirmed. Sergeant Seet turned back to Alex and Lara.

"Still, there're lots of questions to be answered. I'm quite certain these weren't ordinary pirates, my men are trained as commandos are. I'll let you go, Lady Croft and Mr West, but we may need to further contact you."

"Thank you, Sergeant," Lara said as she and Alex left.

A couple of minutes later, the pair was sitting outside Lau Pa Sat, a large, almost cathedral-like renovated hawker centre. Every evening, this portion of the road would be closed off and transformed into an outdoor eating area, as stalls lining the sides of the road opened for business. Most were hawking traditional barbecued skewered meat, or _satay_, served with a peanut sauce and a rice cake or two. "You know Lara, maybe we should just take a break," Alex suggested, waving his half-eaten _satay_ in the air. "I mean, we've almost been killed two or three times, and Singapore has lots to enjoy! I mean, we could kick back and imagined all this never happened!" Alex took a sip of the iced _Teh Cino _, then cringed. It was cloyingly sweet. "Man, I thought condensed milk _and_ evaporated milk in tea would taste great!" he frowned. Lara was still serious.

"Alex, you can't pretend this all never happened. I have a feeling someone wants us out."

Alex broke into that irritating smirk Lara so disliked. "Do tell!"

Lara leaned across the table. Alex fought the temptation to sneak a look down her blouse. "Alex, I think all this has to do with the Crown of Utama."

Alex frowned. "Uta-who?" "Sang Nila Utama was a legendary…" a hawker holding a plate of skewered king prawns bumped into Lara.

"_Maaf,_" the hawker quickly apologized in Bahasa Melayu.

Lara continued. "…a legendary prince who founded ancient Singapore, according to the Malay Annals at least. The prince was on a hunting trip, chasing a deer. He went up a rock and spotted an island, which his ministers told him was the island of Temasek." Alex appeared bored.

"This sounds like some grade-school social studies lesson."

"Well, it is," Lara muttered, "let me continue. He decided to go over to the island and was met with a violent storm."

"Where does his crown come in, Croft?"

"I'm coming to it, Alex. Well, the sailors threw everything they could overboard to lighten the load, but the jetsam didn't help. At the advice of one of his ministers…"

"Why do they always listen to damn politicians?" Alex scowled.

"One more interruption you'll wake up tomorrow without your…never mind. At the advice of one of his ministers, he threw his crown overboard, and the storm stopped."

"Nice story. But what would anyone want the crown for? To control the weather?"

"You play too many videogames, Alex. Maybe it's as simple as the crown will fetch a good price on the black market. We did encounter organized pirates, anyway, and it does figure heavily in Singapore's history if you wish to look at it that way."

"But it's just a myth!" Alex threw his hands up in the air. "I don't get it with you!"

"Well, the Triangle of Light was a myth. And the power of that particular 'myth' saved your life. The periapt shards, the spear of destiny, these were all myths."

"I get the picture, Miss Unorthodox."

Lara smiled. "_Lady _Unorthodox, Alex. Now let's find someplace pleasant to stay."

Five minutes later, Lara and Alex found themselves in the lobby of the Fullerton Hotel, a luxurious waterfront establishment that used to be the central post office. It was either far too early or quite too late, and Lara and Alex, slightly scarred and unkempt, looked nothing like the regular businessmen or wealthy tourists that stayed here while in Singapore. Still, the man at the 24-hour concierge tried his best to look unfazed.

"Man, I feel like James Bond in Die Another Day," Alex quipped.

"Only thing is, you're blonde," Lara reminded him.

"Do you have any reservations, Miss…"

"…Croft. Lady Croft," Lara answered. "And no, I'm sorry but we do not have a reservation." "Then I would suggest the Loft suite." "Alex had a look at the rates and whistled. Lara frowned at him and produced her Visa card.

Alex smiled. "Yeah, the Countess of Abbingdon. I forgot." With that, the couple was set for whatever remained of the night.

A figure sitting in a Toyota van marked "Low's Pest Control" observed the image on the GPS tracking screen in front of him. He dialed a number and spoke into his cellular phone – Singaporeans call them hand phones. "_Lao Ban, _They're in the Fullerton Hotel. Loft Suite," the man reported to his boss.

"_Tai hao le_," the man on the other line chuckled in Mandarin. "Don't make your move – yet. This Lady Croft thinks she can outsmart us – so let's play it her way."


	4. Containerization

Crown of Utama Chapter 4

Lara stretched, easing herself up. She squinted as sunlight streamed through the windows of the Loft Suite, which offered a fantastic view of the waterfront Esplanade and the Merlion Park. _And so Day Two begins_, she thought morosely to herself. The events of the previous day wouldn't be easy to shake, and from past experience, the Tomb Raider knew that this was not over. She glanced to her side, noticing that Alex was already up. She pulled the fine silk sheets around her. Alex was making coffee and watching the news on the television in front of the bed.

"Slept well, Croft?" He asked, smiling. Lara could not understand why the man seemed so relaxed when, just the day before, they had been hunted down by pirates who had managed to kill coast guard patrolmen. Lara brushed the thought aside and decided she may as well enjoy the day. She was, after all, surrounded by the luxury of the Fullerton. Her attention turned to the news.

"You're back with us on Prime Time Morning," the newscaster said in what Lara saw as a rather lame attempt at a Queen's English accent. An old file photograph of Lara appeared in the top right-hand corner of the screen, with the header "Expedition Attacked". Lara slipped out of bed, as Alex observed her perfect figure. Lara snapped around and Alex turned away. Lara began to get dressed, her full attention still on the television screen.

"The underwater archaeological excavation sponsored by Lady Lara Croft was attacked late last night by terrorists." A video of the wreckage smoldering began to play. "We have confirmed that most of the crew members on board, including Lady Croft herself, managed to escape safely. However, the motives behind the attack are still unclear.

"Unclear, huh," Alex muttered.

"Quiet Alex," Lara said.

The screen then showed a video of Sergeant Seet being interviewed. "The PCG has confirmed that this was a deliberate attacked. Lady Croft and several members of the crew, including the ship's captain Blake Tan, have agreed to help us in the investigation."

Lara frowned. "I bloody well didn't! They just said they would contact me again!" Lara exclaimed, slightly peeved. Alex shrugged. "They don't know what's going on, Alex." She considered. "Then again, neither do we." The coverage ended and Lara switched the television set off.

"Well, least they didn't say where we're staying. Bad guys can't get to us that way."

"I've called Ahmad, a friend of mine and former member of the Singapore Special Operations Force. He's agreed to meet us near Keppel Container Port and will take us to the dig site.

Alex smiled. "Always prepared, aren't you, Croft?" He heard a doorbell ring. "Well, if the bad guys can't find us, looks as if the good guys still can. I'll go downstairs," Alex said, proceeding down into the first storey of the Loft suite.

"I'll follow you," Lara said. She clipped on her belt, which hid several devices she should find useful. Lara also holstered both her Desert Eagles in hidden holsters. She headed downstairs.

Alex opened the door, and found himself face-to-face with four serious-looking plainclothes policemen. Each carried large duffel bags, and this made Lara mildly suspicious. The men briefly introduced themselves. "We're Inspectors Mike Chin, Alan Leong, Sean Han and Elaine Tay from the CID." They produced their badges. Lara scrutinized them. Even though they looked authentic, her well-honed gut instinct told her something was amiss.

"You're Lady Croft, am I right?" Inspector Tay asked.

"Yes. Is this regarding last night's incident?" Lara asked.

Inspector Han nodded. All of a sudden, Inspector Chin pulled out what looked like an auto-injector gun. Alex opened his mouth to protest, but the "Inspector" plunged in a hypodermic syringe before he could. He quickly did the same to Lara. The "policemen" opened the large duffel bags and pulled out perfect replicas of paramedic outfits. Then they unfolded two collapsible stretchers in which they managed to hide the bags and loaded the unconscious Alex and Lara onto them.

The four mysterious figures rushed out the door of the Fullerton Hotel, alarming some guests in the lobby. The receptionist called out, but they did not stop. As she saw Lara and Alex being loaded into an ambulance, she just shrugged and carried on taking calls.

When Lara came to, she found bound to a chair in a small office. _Interrogation room _was the first thing that came to her mind. She saw Alex next to her. He too was pinned to his chair. Lara clanked down. She didn't have a Desert Eagles anymore, but other than that nothing was out of the ordinary. Most importantly, she was still wearing her belt. Lara scowled, running the options through her head.

"Wha…what the hell happened?" Alex asked, still groggy from the drug.

"We're kidnapped, that's what," Lara answered. She was surprised that neither she nor Alex was gagged. A figure emerged from a back room.

"Captain Blake Tan!" Lara exclaimed.

"You've realised, _ke shi tai chi le_," Captain Tan said, clearly enjoying himself.

"We're too bloody late," Lara translated. "You've got that wrong."

"Damn right!" Alex agreed.

Captain Tan smiled. "I heard you were going to the Keppel Container Terminal to meet a friend."

"How the…" Alex wondered aloud. "That hawker who bumped into us outside Lau Pa Sat!"

Lara was mad at herself for not figuring it out. "He planted a bug and a tracking device. Blake, tell me what it is you bloody want!"

Captain Tan ignored Lara's question. "Well, you should be thanking me. I brought you here." He opened the door, and Lara saw that they were, in fact, in a warehouse. Large containers stacked one atop the other filled the area and trucks moved in and out. Captain Tan's cronies motioned for Alex and Lara to get to their feet. Alex and Lara walked out of the office and into the warehouse proper. The came to one of the many containers. Lara wondered why nobody had spotted them, then realised that Captain Tan and his men were dressed as Port Authority workers.

The man who had introduced himself as "Inspector Mike Chin" earlier on now unlocked the huge container and pushed Alex and Lara in. Captain Tan came to the doors and smiled. "You will now experience life as shipping cargo."

"Security here is so tight, how do you expect to get away with it?" Lara demanded.

"I don't. And the tightness of the security is to my advantage anyway. See, the container will be subjected to gamma ray and intense X ray radiation, which would kill the average human being. Of course, if you get caught, then you'd have lots of explaining to do – most of which the police will not likely believe."

Lara now understood the genius of the plan. This would appear as if Lara and Alex had wanted to sneak themselves off the country after sabotaging the expedition and blaming it on pirates. The most damning part was that Captain Tan would be helping the police with their investigation.

"Even if you somehow happen to survive," Captain Tan continued, "you will be spending two months in complete darkness with air quality that is, shall I say, less than ideal. No toilet facilities as well, I might add. Also, you'd have containers on all sides," he gesticulated with glee. "Well, _zhu ni yi fan feng shun_!" With that, the container doors slammed shut.

"A smooth journey indeed…" Lara muttered.


	5. Fortunate Circumstance

Crown of Utama Chapter 5

There were a thousand questions that Lara wanted to ask. It wasn't easy to concentrate in the pitch blackness of the cramped shipping container. What did Captain Tan want? Was it really the crown? Was he the mastermind, or simply a shadow of a much bigger threat to come? She felt something. This broke her train of thought. Her eyes narrowed.

"Watch yourself, Alex!" Lara barked. Alex shrugged, secretly smiling to himself.

"You can't blame me for wanting to cop a feel."

Lara couldn't help but smile. Even under the least ideal conditions, Alex managed to relax her. There was still that nagging thought that Alex was not worth trusting, but after all they'd been through, Lara decided on giving him the benefit of the doubt. She had also begun cutting through the bonds, using the sharp edge of a plastic box inside the container to cut herself free.

Suddenly, Lara and Alex felt a jarring movement. "Whoa! What was that?!" Alex wondered aloud.

"Probably just us being moved out of the warehouse," Lara replied matter-of-factly.

"Why are you so damn calm?" Alex, beginning to feel mildly claustrophobic, asked.

"Because," an ultra-bright beam characteristic of an LED portable light source illuminated the container. "I'm free." Lara placed the light source on the floor of the container. Alex frowned.

"Of course," Lara smiled. She reached into one of the compartments concealed in her belt and produced a diamond-edged plastic flick-knife. She sawed through Alex's bonds, then severed the ropes around her feet. "There we go."

"Yippee," Alex intoned sarcastically. "There is still the very small problem of getting ourselves out of here."

"I thought sarcasm was my specialty?"

The light source began to roll across the floor of the container slightly, as if to reinforce his point. Alex and Lara then felt the container jerk – just enough to alert them, but not enough to alarm them.

"I'm working on it," Lara said, her confident smile illuminated by the LED portable light source. Lara produced a few tiny orbs – the size of marbles. "I figured we could have a traditional game of _goli _while we wait," Lara joked.

"Yes, Lara, but see, all the 'marbles' are the same colours, there're not nearly enough and you don't have a _goli_ board."

Lara was quite caught by surprise that Alex knew this snippet of old Singaporean culture. Alex smiled triumphantly. Lara threw stuck the squibs to the door of the container on the far side. A small, near-silent but powerful blast blew the door slightly open. Harsh sunlight flowed in, indicating that they were outside the warehouse.

Alex cautiously pushed the door open. The sight worsened the queasy feeling in his stomach.

Alex and Lara's container was now hanging from a large gantry crane, several hundred of feet in the air.

"Now what?!" Alex yelled over the sounds of the machinery. Lara poked her head out of the container and smiled.

"We jump."

"That's crazy, even for you!" Alex retorted.

"Suit yourself. And if you happen to change your mind," Lara opened her arm, "hang on."

Alex frowned and inched towards Lara as she closed her arms around him. _At least we get one last snuggle_, Alex considered grimly.

Lara activated her portable grappling device which was now hooked securely to her belt. 30 feet of high-tensile monofilament wire shot out, with a super-strong electro-magnetic head attached to the other end. It caught the frame of the next gantry frame.

They leapt. Alex yelled.

The operator sitting in the suspended trolley looked positively alarmed, as did most of the deck workers, shouting and pointing.

Lara and Alex landed safely – but heavily – atop a stack of shipping containers underneath the gantry crane. Lara pushed a button on the grappling device and the tiny but powerful motorized winch inside pulled the monofilament wire back.

"Dive!" Lara instructed a fazed Alex. The two ran off the stack of containers and plunged into the waters below. Lara surfaced, laughing. Alex cast her a confused glance. A dinghy approached, in it a well-built young Malay man. "Ahmad!" Lara called. The man waved a smiled. He helped Alex and Lara onto the dinghy.

"Narrowly escaping death again," Ahmad said in accented English.

"_Tak apa_", Lara replied in Bahasa Melayu. Ahmad laughed an turned to Alex.

"Everything also 'no problem' for her one. How come you can catch such beautiful _ikan_ like her?" He teased.

"Least he called me a fish and not something wore," Lara muttered.

"Oh, me? Just fortunate circumstance," Alex replied.


	6. Pulau Hantu

Crown of Utama Chapter 6

The modified Zodiac-type dinghy sped off out of the container port, edging its way unseen in-between the large container ships that made Singapore the world's busiest port. Ahmad skillfully maneuvered the watercraft. As much as Lara wanted to stop and take a breath, she knew she could not. News of her and Alex's escape would have doubtlessly reached Captain Blake Tan and his superiors, if he had any in the first place, by now.

Ahmad frowned. "You got _besar_ trouble Lara, very _jia lat_. I help as much as I can _lah_, but cannot guarantee safety one."

"_Terima kasih_ anyway, Ahmad," Lara replied in her limited Bahasa Melayu. They had well cleared the container terminal and were heading to the excavation site by then. Ahmad pulled out an attaché case and opened it.

"Your standard _barang barang_, Lara," Ahmad smiled. Even though he had left the Special Operations Force a short while ago, he was still able to obtain certain pieces of equipment as long as he carried a military license.

Lara nodded a thank you to Ahmad and opened the case as he continued steering the dinghy. "Nice!" Alex exclaimed. Inside the case were four JW 33 fragmentation grenades, with their recognizable cast iron construction and traditional raised waffle pattern. There were also Dual RGP Mach 5 pistols to replace the Desert Eagles Lara had lost. Military standard-issue grappling hooks and rappel harnesses for her and Alex rested neatly in the false bottom of the case. She holstered the dual pistols and transferred the rest of the equipment into a backpack lying in the dinghy, which she then handed to Alex. In her own opinion, Lara thought the both of them had gotten in far too deep and debating trust issues was currently useless.

"Hey Ahmad, you got anything else in that magic dinghy of yours?" Alex asked.

"As a matter in fact, yes!" Ahmad lifted the tarp off more things. Alex whistled.

"This one is _powderful_! Closed circuit underwater breathing apay-ray-tuss!" Ahmad boasted.

"Can you please stop talking like that?" Alex asked, slightly peeved.

"Why of course," Ahmad answered in perfect English. He even had the accent down. "The Special Forces are trained to be like chameleons, to blend in and out of situations unnoticed. It is vital that we master a number of languages, but speaking in Singlish is when I'm the most comfortable – as is the case with nearly everybody here." Alex nodded. "Anyway, you two would best put this on," he said passing them the re-breather, along with a full-face mask.

"I feel even more like James Bond now," Alex quipped as he examined the apparatus.

"But you're blond," Ahmad pointed out.

"Why does everyone say that?!" Alex complained, as Ahmad and Lara laughed. "Anyway, do you have wetsuits or something? We can't be wearing this underwater," Alex remarked.

"Why? You want to see Lara _bogel_ is it?" Ahmad teased.

Lara frowned. "He already has," she said reluctantly.

Ahmad whistled. Lara blushed slightly. Alex looked a little confused, but began undressing anyway. Ahmad looked away while Lara and Alex got into their wetsuits.

"Okay, here we are," Ahmad said as they arrived at the dive site. Alex and Lara were all kitted up and had their re-breathers on. Lara began checking the equipment. Alex looked towards what was, yesterday, the excavation site. It was surrounded by coast guard patrol boats.

"Damn," Alex muttered.

"No problem. Ex-Special Operations Force, remember?" Ahmad smiled. "I'll handle this. The two of you get going. I'll be able to hear everything the two of you do, and three-way communications in-built into the full-face mask will let you talk to each other, and back to me."

"Okay Ahmad. Thanks for your help," Lara said in a slightly disembodied voice from behind the mask. Alex nodded and the two of them back-flipped into the sea.

The water was murky and forebodingly deep. Lara and Alex switched on their high-powered underwater flash lights, the harsh ray cutting through the underwater atmosphere. Lara and Alex dove down to the excavation site, dead corals lining the bottom of the sea. Lara wondered if it was a bad omen. She also recalled the name of the nearby island off the coast. _Pulau Hantu_ or the island of ghosts. Lara tried to brush the thought aside

"This way," Lara said. Alex heard her over his earpiece and followed her down. She wondered how Ahmad would be able to explain the situation to the coast guard personnel guarding the area. At this point, Lara really began to doubt if she was doing the right thing.

Small schools of fish turned abruptly. The hulls of the coast guard watercraft blocked the sunlight overhead. Lara and Alex then reached a large, square-shaped excavation perimeter made of thin vinyl canvas. "Here we are," Alex reported.

"Very good. Don't worry; I've explained everything to my _brudders_ up here. Some of them even old NS buddies. I'll deep an ear out for you guys," Ahmad replied over the communication system. Alex and Lara swam up the side of the perimeter and into the dig site. The markers from yesterday were still there, along with some artifacts they had yet to pick up. With the authorization of the Singapore government, the expedition had used an undersea drill to dig into the seabed. Lara and Alex swam down into the man-made passage.

It was just wide enough to fit the both of them. Alex checked his pressure gauge periodically as they swam down. It was still fairly safe. Lara held the torch in front of her. To their surprise, they saw underwater tunnels. Even more startling was the faint but brightly-hued glow that seemed to want to lure Lara and Alex in.

"Now what?" Alex asked. "This isn't just undersea gas for sure.

"We go in," Lara replied.


	7. Chamber of Crowns

Crown of Utama Chapter 7

Alex looked down the underwater cavern. It was just narrow enough for them to pass through one at a time. The lights continued dancing, their glow interacting in an almost beautiful way with the water. Alex didn't know if they were an invitation or a warning. He shrugged and followed Lara in.

Lara shone the torch ahead and around her. What were curious were the glyphs that lined the seemingly natural tunnel. No man could have stayed at this depth for the time needed to carve the glyphs. Lara was also rather sure that these tunnels had not fallen into the sea from Pulau Hantu by accident.

"Lara…what is that?" Ahmad asked over the radio. He could see what Lara could from the wireless camera link-up system on Lara's wetsuit.

"I don't know Ahmad…" Lara said, considering.

"And so the tomb raiding formally begins," Alex sighed.

A moray eel stuck its neck out of one of the many holes in the cavern. Alex recoiled and let it retract back. Further shocks might lead to an excess of carbon dioxide, Alex reminded himself. If the scrubbers in the re-breather were working properly, Alex and Lara would have just over three hours left.

"Careful Alex," Lara warned. However, from past experiences, Lara knew that moray eels were of the least possible concern.

Lara and Alex finally arrived at the end of the cavern. They entered the narrow space from where the dancing hues were emitted. The light played on various ornamental objects piled in the tiny cavelet. Several skeletons – or parts of them lay around the objects. Small pieces of ancient Malay Batik wear floated around the cavelet. Lara ignored the grisly scene – she had, after all, been witness to much worse. "Well, seems like our predecessors didn't come out looking too healthy."

Lara ignored Alex. "These are all crowns or _kris_," she pointed out.

Alex held up one of the _kris_ and inspected it. It was roughly 13 inches long. The magnificent ceremonial instrument – and deadly weapon – was made from meteoric iron. The blade was curved in a menacing yet beautiful fashion, the handle encrusted with gold and jewels. "This has got to be the deposit of crowns in the story. Utama's must be among them," Alex reasoned.

"Any royal who passed the waters had to throw in an object of importance to satisfy the water spirit," Lara said, recalling what she had read. "Crowns were the most common, but some of the royals had to sacrifice their kris for sure."

"_Alamak_, Lara!" Ahmad exclaimed over the radio. He was clearly taken aback at the discovery that the story he had been told so many times as a boy was in fact reality.

"Water spirit…"Alex considered grimly. Both he and Lara had encountered mythical beings and almost all of those instances were unsavory, to say the least. "We'd better get this crown and get moving."

"We need to figure out which one is Utama's," Lara said.

"Let's just take all of them," Alex replied, quickly putting the crowns into the collection bag he had brought down with him.

"Mercenary…" Lara scowled. "You'd best be careful not to awaken the water spirit."

"Yeah, I don't want to get the attention of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster either," Alex joked.

Lara shook her head. Her attention turned to one of the decayed corpses, its hand tightly clutching one crown. Lara's eyes narrowed. "This must be it…why else would the captain be holding on to it?" She picked up the crown and put it in the bag, sealing it. "Let's go."

Alex pocketed one last _kris_ before following Lara out the way they came. He made sure only to get the ones that were sheathed, less a gaping hole be cut in his already far-too-full collection bag.

Lara stopped for a moment. By this time, demons and mummies were usually on her tail. She brushed the thought aside, knowing she should instead be relieved rather than suspicious. "Okay Ahmad, we're going up."

"No problem, Lara," Ahmad said. Lara detected a tense quality in his voice. Maybe he was tired or just uncertain that their expedition would be a success. Lara shone her torch forward and continued.

She noticed the glyphs, likely a derivative of ancient Arabic, take on a dark, almost slimy sheen. "Arm yourself Alex." She said as she drew her diving knife.

"…because no one else here will save us…" Alex murmured. They continued swimming forwards as fast as they could, expecting the entire structure to cave in.

What happened next was far worse.

A lattice of grotesque, thin, but strong tentacles shot out from either side of the tunnel walls. The tentacles were, in fact, the glyphs themselves, the tip of each one shaped exactly like the corresponding ancient Arabic letter. "Shit!" Alex exclaimed, slicing at the tentacles with his own knife. The ends of the tentacles suddenly became diamond-sharp, scratching through Alex's wetsuit, puncturing his re-breather unit and tearing holes in his collection bag. "My crowns!" he yelled.

Lara tried fending herself off best as she could. The sharp ends of the tentacles were also getting to her, scratching across her dive mask. She glanced behind and noticed that Alex's re-breather unit was punctured. "Alex!" She gasped. She swam back through the mass of savage tentacles, pulling Alex along behind her. She glanced down at her collection back and saw that it too was taking damage. She could only pray that the crown would still be inside.

Lara soon cleared the treacherous passage and swam upwards. She reminded herself that if she didn't get up in time, the unequal combination of oxygen and carbon dioxide in Alex's blood would kill him, and if that she surfaced too fast, the bends would get to them both. Lara held tightly onto Alex, now unconscious. She finally cleared the underwater tunnel, surrounded instead by the thin vinyl canvas perimeter. She glanced down at the passage from which she had just emerged and saw an unsettling mass of bubbles rise out. She swam over that too and headed away as fast as was allowed. She didn't care that she would be surfacing in the middle of a ring of coast guard speedboats.

Lara and Alex surfaced. A large explosion shot up into the air, like that caused by a limpet mine. The water that burst up was coloured a faint orange. When the water fell, a lingering aura danced for a moment, as if warning them that it was not yet over. Both Lara and Alex were covered in scratches that had cut through their wetsuits, but what was most important was that she held on to what was most likely the Crown of Utama. Alex, exhausted, smiled. Everything was fine for the moment.

Or so it seemed.


	8. You Will Fight Well Again

Crown of Utama Chapter 8

Lara looked all around her. She was surrounded by coast guard speedboats – as she expected. The only thing was that almost all the boats were on fire or had been attacked, and the bodies of dead coast guard patrolmen floated all around. Alex reeled back in disgust. Lara turned towards the dinghy. It was empty. She then saw a fire response boat behind in, with Ahmad standing on the deck.

"Ahmad!" she called, shocked. Blake stood, holding a gun to Ahmad's head. Two burly henchmen held onto him. Ahmad remained silent, figuring out how to free himself.

"You don't give up, don't you?" Blake sneered, shoving the gun into Ahmad's cheek. What looked like a fleet of fire response boats, but were commandeered by Blake's henchmen for sure, encircled the area.

"Naturally," Lara scowled in response. "What is it that you bloody want?"

"And who the hell are you?" Alex asked.

Blake shook his head. "I thought you'd have figured out by now, Lady Croft. I also believe you have what I want. Come on board. Your boyfriend too," Blake finished, pointing at Alex with his free hand. Alex and Lara cautiously swam over to the fire-response boat, proceeding up the ladder. Lara moved her hand over two pockets sewn into the wetsuit. The slight bulge of the guns was evident.

The henchmen noticed too late. Lara drew both RGP pistols, throwing one to Alex who finished off some of Blake's personnel. Lara rammed her gun into Blake's head. Blake smiled, keeping his hand on the trigger. He did not have to speak a word for Lara to understand that this sick spin on a Mexican standoff would not end well unless someone, somehow, intervened.

Alex dropped the gun and raised his hands, slowly walking nearer to Blake. "I have the crown you're looking for. What you want to do with it I don't give a damn." He placed the half-torn bag on the floor. Both Lara and Blake kept their weapons aimed at their respective targets.

"Go on," Blake said. Alex reached into his bag and pulled out a _kris_. In one fluid movement, he unsheathed the weapon and sliced it across Blake's back, not deep enough to mortally wound him, but enough to make him cringe and pull his gun away. Lara knocked Blake unconscious with a kick to the head and a frenzied battle ensued, as men realized something was off and viciously battled Alex. Lara cut a relieved Ahmad free.

Ahmad picked up the gun Blake had planned to use against him and put his years of training to good use. He was a superb marksman and methodically took his opponents out. The other "fire response boats" noticed that something was wrong and began firing from hidden turrets. Lara, Alex and Ahmad rushed into the fire-response boat to take cover. Meanwhile, Blake rose, a grimace wiping across his face. He crawled agonizingly across the deck, reeling in pain from the cut.

"You okay, Ahmad?" Alex asked.

"It's alright," Ahmad answered. "I know how to drive one of these things." Ahmad entered the command bridge of the fire response boat. "I can get you to an SOF safe house on the Riau islands some distance from here." Lara, by now breathless, nodded. Alex sat slumped on one of the benches in the fire response boat. This was more than the two of them had bargained for.

"At least Blake's taken care of," Lara said. She set the bag down on the sparse table in front of her and pulled out the crown. At last, she was able to examine it. It was very much unlike the crowns of ancient feudal monarchy. It was ornate and ornamental, much like the Kris. Ancient Arabic letters adorned the rim of the crown. Lara shuddered slightly when she remember her most recent encounter with ancient glyphs. There was also that deep-seated doubt that this was not Utama's crown. After seeing the lengths her adversaries had gone to acquire it, Lara was almost certain that this was more than just some black market prize.

A figure staggered through the door, his expression something between a manic smile and a painful grimace. Lara realized she had spoken too soon. Despite being badly injured, Blake Tan was still a threat and was determined as ever to get hold of the crown of Utama. "Lara Croft," he said in a ragged voice. Lara drew her guns. She now realised that Blake was brandishing a _kris_.

Alex smiled. "Rematch?" he taunted Blake.

Blake scowled. "You filthy American!" He brought his blade up and engaged in a furious duel with Alex. In the meantime, Ahmad worked to get them as close to Riau Island as they could, and Lara took the crown and ran to a cabin. She was confident that Alex would be able to handle the situation. "You know something about _krisses_?" Blake asked his opponent in-between clashes of the blade. "They have an essence, the ability to give its wielder good luck or bad!" Blake struck out with fury, gouging a deep cut in the wall of the fire response boat's interior.

He was surprisingly skilled with the ornate asymmetrical dagger which, despite being hundreds of years old for sure, still displayed magnificent power. Alex was having a little trouble adapting moves he had learnt from traditional fencing to use with this unfamiliar weapon. The early afternoon sun caused both blades to gleam menacingly. The thought that this might be the last thing he'd ever see made Alex feel sick to the stomach. Blake moved skillfully, as if the cut Alex had inflicted was nothing now. Alex was unsure if he could keep it up for long. As if reinforcing this thought, the blade of the kris sliced his right forearm, adding to the many cuts inflicted by the tentacles in the cave some time earlier. Alex grimaced, dropping his kris to the floor. Blake laughed in triumph, readying himself for the fatal stab.

Alex was now on his back, at the mercy of the daggers about to be plunged into his chest. He reached over and grabbed the kris he had just dropped with his left hand, bringing it up to defend against Blake's assault. Alex pulled the blade back, seemingly giving up. Blake smiled.

Then, with an expression of shock the last he would ever have, Blake crumbled to the floor. Alex had thrown the kris into Blake's chest, the dangerously curved blade embedded in his opponent. Alex growled and yelled at Blake, "who are you working for?! Why do you want the damn crown?"

With what was left of his consciousness, Blake stammered, "you…have fought…well…but you will fight well again." Alex looked confused at Blake's corpse. "_You will fight well again…_" Alex didn't know if it was a compliment, a warning, or a clue. At that moment, Lara burst out from her cabin.

"Alex!" she exclaimed. "You're alright, thank God." She kissed him deeply and reached for a med-kit to tend to his wounds. "What did Blake say?"

"I…I don't know what it means," Alex began. "Something like 'you have fought well but you will fight well again'". Lara thought for a moment.

"Never mind that now, you just relax. I'm sure we'll be able to salvage some information from Blake's computers. Now, we wait."


	9. Safe House

Crown of Utama Chapter 9

"We've shaken them" Ahmad reported. Alex's breathing was ragged, but he was only lightly wounded. "You can get that treated at the safe house," Ahmad pointed out.

"Thanks for helping out," Lara said as she sat tending to Alex and inspecting the crown. "You don't suppose we also get some…research done at your safe house? I have a friend back home who can perform a remote analysis of Blake's computer if I get a decent uplink."

"Of course," Ahmad smiled. "I still don't believe the crown of Utama is real. And you said…there were tentacles preventing your escape?" Ahmad asked, curious.

"Yeah those," Alex said. "Nastier than the living stone monkeys in Cambodia. And a little creepier too."

"The ends were shaped like ancient Arabic glyphs…" Lara recalled. Her train of thought was interrupted by the slowing of the fire response boat. "Ahmad, why are we stopping? We're nowhere near any island."

As if in response to her question, the radio communications crackled to life. "Fire Response, you are in water controlled by the SOF. Please state your intent." Ahmad smiled.

"Sir, ex-SOF operative _Cicak_," Ahmad spoke into the radio.

"_Cicak_?" Alex asked, confused.

"He means gecko or lizard," Lara whispered. Alex stifled a laugh.

The voice over the radio continued. "Ex-operative _Cicak_…confirm status: under duress or ordinary."

"Egret," Ahmad said the code word into the radio. "Carrying wounded passengers."

"What is it with their wildlife obsession?" Alex complained. Lara glared at him and signaled for him to pipe down.

"Confirmation accepted. Cicak, please note that your passengers will keep any information they might be privy to strictly confidential." Alex and Lara nodded. "Please stand by for escort."

Ahmad smiled, relieved. "I'm lucky they still remember me," he said.

"So, Agent Gecko huh," Lara teased.

Ahmad frowned. "Geckos approach undetected and evade predators efficiently," he said, defensive. Seemingly out of nowhere, two small interceptor boats, similar to the Blackspot Loyang Lara and Alex had commandeered the previous night, approached. They seemed capable of fantastic speeds but proceeded slowly, Ahmad's fire response boat trailing behind them.

A minute or so later, the boat entered a small cave in the side of a rock structure on Riau Island. The cave was pitch black until a series of lights flickered on. Lara realised that they had entered a concealed jetty, and one that was pretty state-of-the-art as well. The interceptor boats docked, and personnel came to secure the fire response boat. They seemed a little disturbed, probably by the number of bullet holes that had riddled the craft – and the fact that its deck was covered in blood stains.

Ahmad disembarked with Lara and Alex behind him. A stony-faced man, the typical military type, dressed in combat pants and a training jacket over a white singlet was standing there ready to greet them. Ahmad raised his hand in a military salute. "Sir," he said.

The man returned the salute and broke into a warm smile. "Ahmad! It's been a while! How are you, brudder?"

Ahmad wanted to relax, but knew he couldn't. He replied, "_Bagus_ sir." He then introduced Alex and Lara to his officer. "We need to use your facilities immediately officer. _Maaf_, he apologized."

"Tak apa," the Officer smiled, leading them through a door on the far end of the concealed jetty. Past the door was a short, wide and brightly-lit corridor. Doors lined either side. Lara noticed SOF operatives taking naps and watching football matches. She also saw doors without any windows, these ones labelled as briefing rooms.

The officer began, "say, I saw you two on Prime Time Morning today. You were involved in the attack on the Fu Qi." Lara nodded.

"Yes. The ship's captain set us up and kidnapped us from the Fullerton hotel. With Ahmad's help, we managed to escape but encountered him again. He died on the boat we came in on. His men must have hijacked fire response boats, or disguised their own speedboats as official ones. We are grateful for your assistance, officer."

"Yeah, we also went back to the excavation site where we found what she thinks is the crown of Sang Nila Utama and then we were attacked by Arabic glyphs," Alex finished Lara's story.

"Humour the _ang moh_, Alex whispered to Officer Lim, who smiled uneasily.

Soon, the three of them were in the safe house's sick bay, where a military nurse tended to Alex as Lara sat nearby, her laptop computer and Blake's in front of her. A familiar face appeared on the screen.

"Hi Zip. I need you to help me get into this laptop computer Alex…retrieved from a bad guy."

"The two of you at it again?" Zip laughed. Lara put on her most serious look and stared into the web cam. "Yikes! No problem, I'll get you in. What you have so far?" He asked.

This time, Alex replied, looking into the web-cam from his hospital bed. "His last words were "you will fight well again"

"I'll cross-reference that with his files…" the screen on Blake's laptop came to life, as raw text ran across it.

"'Well' could mean a couple of things: Roswell, a couple of significant excavated wells in the mid-east…wait. I think I got it." Zip said, his eyes lighting up.

"What do you have, Zip?" Lara asked, eager to find out.

"I've checked the outbox in his encoded email account, and it seems he has correspondence with someone from 'Rose Well Shipping International'. That ring a bell?"

Ahmad's officer spoke. "Rose Well Shipping is one of the largest shipping trade companies in South-East Asia. Its main offices are in Bangkok and Singapore."

"Is that so…" Lara said thinking. "Tell me what you know, Zip."

Zip tapped on the keyboard of another computer at his workstation in Lara's manor. "Rose Well Shipping was established in 1983…blah blah blah… here! Its owner and CEO is Lynn Tan – Forbes magazine calls her the 'Steel Lady of Shipping'. The most successful woman in the shipping business. She's based in Bangkok, where their main offices are."

"Does she have any connections to a Blake Tan?" Lara asked.

"Let me see…oh yeah, Blake Tan is one of Lynn's cousins. Low-profile guy: ex-Police Coast Guard officer, holds minor shares in Rose Well Shipping, now free-lancing captain-for-hire. Why?"

Lara's eyes narrowed. "He's no longer for hire. Thanks Zip. Alex, we're going to Bangkok."


	10. Arrivial in Krung Thep

Crown of Utama Chapter 10

With the help of Ahmad and his SOF superiors, Alex and Lara were granted permission to leave Singapore. _And not a moment too soon_, Lara thought morosely. What was meant to be a routine excavation and a rare public appearance for the Countess ended up in her and Alex nearly being killed three to four times. Lara gazed out the window of her executive jet, a state-of-the-art Gulfstream V. The city lights glowed beautifully in the late evening. Now that there would be some peace and quiet for a change, Lara could piece everything together.

And if her suspicions were right, this was all about the unassuming crown in the pack she was cradling in her arms. "In the lap of luxury…this is more like it!" Alex smiled as he stretched his legs and reclined in the multi-position seat. He sipped chilled Moet et Chandon champagne from a flute, clearly enjoying himself. "Pity they don't have martinis up here," he sighed, reaching for the controls to the 42-inch plasma television mounted on the cabin wall. The theme from 2006's "Casino Royale" began to play in the background of the DVD menu page.

Sitting across from him, Lara pulled out her PDA and made a list of what she had gathered so far. After that, she made a call to Rose Well Shipping's head office in Bangkok. "Yes, Vesper Ryder from 'The Businesswoman' magazine. I'd like to schedule an interview with your CEO Ms Tan…is tomorrow available? My editor plans to put her on the cover of next month's issue… No, I will be coming with my photojournalist colleague Sean Dalton…we'll be at the Peninsula Hotel…thank you very much sir." Lara stowed the phone away. Alex turned to her.

"So pretending to be a journalist again?" Alex asked. That was Lara's alibi the very first time the two met in the Himalayas. Lara nodded, smiling slightly. "All business and no pleasure, Croft," Alex sighed in mock contempt.

"If you think that line is going to help you join the mile-high club, Alex, you're gravely mistaken." Lara replied, straight-faced.

"Who ever said anything about that?" Alex shrugged half-innocent.

A short while later, the wheels of the Gulfstream touched the tarmac at the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The architecture was modern and astounding, but Lara found the internal layout of the airport bare and nothing to shout about. Lara and Alex quickly cleared customs and immigrations and were out of the airport in no time, a privilege Lara's status afforded her. Once in the arrivals hall, Lara and Alex blended in with all the _farang_ tourists, barely distinguishable. The City of Angels was, in fact, as hectic and noisy as any modern metropolis, no thanks to the humid air. The weather was similar to that in Singapore, only slightly heavier.

A limousine marked with the logo of the luxury Peninsula hotel pulled up outside the terminal, standing out like a sore thumb amongst the run-of-the-mill tuk-tuks and taxis that crowded the area, hoping to pick a tourist to a hotel in the city. The limousine driver stepped out. He was casually dressed, young and had slicked-back black hair. The placard he held bore Alex and Lara's aliases: MS VESPER RYDER AND MR SEAN DALTON. "Sounds like us," Alex smiled, casually walking towards the limousine. The equipment Ahmad had given her much earlier in the day was well-concealed in a hidden compartment in her backpack, along with the precious artifact.

The limousine cruised through dimly-lit streets, passing shabby apartments and modern office buildings squashed side-by-side. Telephone pylons and satellite towers were everywhere, as cluttered as the cityscape itself. Lara noticed a large building with a portrait of a bespectacled man wearing an open-necked yellow shirt – the Thai King – on the facade. Everyone wore yellow on Monday in honour of the King. The car then squeezed down a ramp, brushing past food stalls and shrubs in a dense, chaotic part of town. Traffic police tried desperately to maintain order, but the shrill shrieks of their whistles made the atmosphere worse.

The limousine turned a corner, leaving one side of the city and entering the rich, opulent district where the Peninsula Hotel was situated. It was as if they had stumbled through a looking glass. "Here we are," the driver announced in heavily accented English.

"Nice," Alex said, his eyes scanning the façade. It was tall and majestic, in many ways completely different yet very much the same as the Fullerton Hotel. As they drew up at the entrance, half a dozen men in immaculate white uniforms hurried forward to help. "Michael Jackson's backup dancers," Alex quipped, as Lara frowned. _The man doesn't know the meaning of respect_, she thought to herself. The chilly environment created by the air-conditioning added to the welcome. Alex and Lara crossed a wide marble floor towards the reception area, "Diamonds Are Forever" tinkling on the piano somewhere in the background. The smiling receptionist handed Lara and Alex two garlands, as she bowed in greeting. Lara bowed in return, and Alex followed suit.

The lift they entered was about the size of a room itself, and when they left the lift they were on the twenty-first floor. A few minutes later, Lara stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, taking in the vista spread before her. Alex was taking a bath in the luxury bathroom. The city was spread out on the other side of a wide river, its brown colouration slightly off-putting. Skyscrapers towered in the far distance, among them the main office of Rose Well Shipping International. Nearer by, there were hotels, Buddhist temples, well-preserved ancient palaces with perfect grassy lawns and – standing right by them – slum houses, shacks and long-forgotten warehouses in all manner of dilapidation. Lara sighed, wondering what this uncertain land would hold. She glanced over to the bedside table where she had placed the Crown of Utama. Earlier on, she had taken photographs of it from every imaginable angle, allowing Zip to create a 3D reconstruction of the object.

Whilst waiting for Alex to finish, Lara quickly set up shop. The internet connection was not exactly affordable, but that was of little concern to Lara. She hooked up the web-cam and waited for Zip to get online back at the manor. Zip's image flashed onscreen, as Alex emerged from the bathroom, a low-slung towel wrapped around his waist. "Hello Zip," Lara began. "Do you have the data?"

"As always, Lara," Zip replied. He tapped on the keyboard in front of him and the image on Lara's laptop monitor was replaced by a slowly rotating, high-resolution diagram of the Crown of Utama. "I've checked your reference material on Ancient Arabic and it seems the glyphs don't say anything too special. They just spell out his name, Sri Tri Buana."

Alister's voice was soon audible in the background. "Sri Tri Buana is Sang Nila Utama's birth name. The way I see it, this crown was the one that was finally able to satiate the water spirit."

"So, anyone who gets a hold of it can control the weather!" Alex said. "I was darn right all along."

"That is a tad far-fetched, Alex…even by my standards," Alister considered.

"But with all this business that's been happening so far, especially this shipping company, it may just be the truth…" Lara said.

On the other side of the river, atop a skyscraper hundreds of yards away, a black clad figure stood, looking though a powerful scope. He adjusted the focus until the image of Lara and Alex bent over the laptop was crystal clear. "See if you can get what they're viewing on that computer," a voice said through the headset he wore.

"_chai_," the man spying on them replied. He was hardly noticeable, a small silhouette dwarfed by the building which was his temporary base of operations. He flipped open a laptop and tapped on the keyboard, skillfully hacking into Lara's network. He was able to catch a brief glimpse of the crown diagram before Lara went offline.

"_Yaawt_," the voice in his ear chuckled. The man smiled. His boss was pleased, and he would be receiving a decent sum soon. As he packed up, he wondered why he had not been asked to kill the targets. He shrugged and disappeared down the roof access.


	11. Interview

Crown of Utama Chapter 11 – INTERVIEW

Lara awoke, the soft rays of the Thai sun flooding their luxurious suite in the Peninsula Hotel. Just outside the window, Lara could see boats of all kinds making their way up and down the wide, brown river. She rubbed her eyes, sitting up in the bed. This time, she was the first to awake. Alex was still sleeping soundly next to her. Lara wasted no time in getting dressed and packing for the day. She was "Vesper Ryder" now, an alias that Zip had cooked up for her. Lara sipped the bottled mineral water – it was unwise to drink any other kind in Thailand – as she switched her laptop computer on and ran through her pretend biography again.

_Vesper Ryder – senior journalist, The BusinessWoman Magazine. Tall, dark-haired, bespectacled. IQ of 140. Born 1980 in London, England. First job as intern with The Daily Mirror. Single, often works with photojournalist colleague Sean Dalton. Renowned for in-depth interviews of successful female business figures, including Gail McGovern and Olivia Lum._

Lara smiled. She looked at herself in the mirror – she had on a smart suit over a low-cut blouse, and was wearing glasses – looking quite different from her usual self. By this time, Alex had already awoken. "Rise and shine, Sean Dalton," Lara said. She handed him a Nikon SLR.

Alex felt the weight of the camera in his hands and frowned. "Can I at least put a shirt on first?" he asked.

Several minutes later, Lara and Alex sat opposite each other in the hotel's large buffet hall. The hotel offered a sumptuous spread that included just about every type of cuisine – English, French, Vietnamese, Thai – with dishes ranging from _pho, _a traditional beef noodle soup, to eggs and bacon. Lara laid out the order of the day in-between dainty mouthfuls of stir-fried noodles. "Here's the plan. We get into Lynn's office, ask the questions from the list, sneak in one or two about Blake and possibly the Crown, then we bolt." Alex nodded.

After they had finished breakfast, Lara and Alex were sitting in a tuk-tuk heading down Chinatown on the other side of the river. Lara held on tightly to her handbag, the Crown among its contents. Lara could not risk leaving it in the hotel room. Bangkok's Chinatown seemed to have a ceiling of banners, billboards, a tangle of electric cables and a myriad of neon signs. Alex was relieved when they made it out and headed towards the gleaming building that was the head office of Rose Line Shipping International. Lara paid the fare and bowed to the driver, who returned the gesture. Alex and Lara entered the automatic glass doors, into a world that belonged with the Peninsula Hotel.

Smartly-dressed men and women sat around the lobby of the building, absently reading the business section of the local English newspaper or keeping an eye on the LCD display of stock trends. Lara and Alex approached the receptionist, a young, inexperienced-looking Thai lady. "_Sawaat de Kaat_," she greeted Lara. "How do I helps you?"

Lara smiled, presenting the pass Zip had made for her and Alex. "I'm here to interview Ms Lynn Tan. Vesper Ryder, BusinessWoman magazine. I made a call yesterday, remember?" The receptionist frowned slightly and tapped at the keyboard in front of her, before smiling again.

"Khaa! Ms Ryder and Mr Dalton. Up the elevator at the ends of the corridor, please," she said, handing Alex a security pass.

"_Khawaap koon_," Alex thanked her. He flipped the security pass in the air and followed Lara down the hallway. He tapped the security pass at the private elevator leading up to Lynn's office. The car arrived, and they entered. The elevator was about the size of the one in the hotel, and a beautiful Thai painting hung on the wall. Lara also noticed perfectly-concealed security cameras. They finally reached the 61st floor, where Lynn's executive office was. The lift opened into a luxurious reception area, with windows on either side offering fantastic panoramas of the city. In-between the windows were framed copies of the many magazine and newspaper articles in which Lynn Tan had appeared.

"She's got as much an ego as the other corporate creeps we've come across," Alex muttered softly. Lara couldn't agree more. In her time, she had dealt with such figures as Jacqueline Natla and Jonathan Riess, and had learned that evil usually came as the side dish with the main course that was power. Still, it was far too early to conclude if Lynn Tan was the mastermind they were hunting. Interrupting her thoughts, the door opened.

Lynn Tan stood on the other side, smiling. "Ms. Ryder, Mr Dalton! Welcome, right on time." She handed each of them an exotic local cocktail of pineapple, orange and guava juice belnded with crushed ice. Lara and Alex returned the pleasantries; slightly taken aback at the hospitability they had been shown.

Lynn Tan was a short, genial-looking middle-aged woman, the type who could've been anyone's kindly aunt. Her complexion was well-maintained, and a few streaks of grey flecked her short hair. She welcomed "Ms. Ryder" and "Mr Dalton" into her office, and seated them down on luxury ergonomic office chairs on the other side of her desk. Lara smiled, trying to look as much as a journalist as she could. Alex thought she did look the part, with the glasses and the smart dressing, as well as the low-cut blouse offset by a simple pendant. Alex once again tried to avert his eyes, readying the camera he was utterly unfamiliar with.

Lara got right down to business, passing Lynn her business card and then starting her pantheon of questions with a rather normal one to ask a corporate head honcho. "How do you feel now that Rose Line Shipping has grown to such status in a mere 20 years?" Lara had altered her accent to sound more like that of a London city girl than the aristocrat she was. Lynn smiled and answered the same question that she had hundreds of times before, but she tried not to show it. Lara continued, and soon the ice was broken.

Alex couldn't help but feel comfortable in the environment. Lynn seemed to make the large, open-plan office more of a friendly place. She then began to elaborate more on her childhood, talking about how she was born in a West Malaysian _kampong _and orphaned at an early age when her parents were injured in a car accident. The CEO managed to show just enough emotion while still maintaining her dignified air. Lynn then continued on how her aunt and uncle helped her move to Singapore, and mentioned her cousin Blake Tan.

Lara's eyes lit up. _This is too easy for comfort_, she thought to herself. Lara managed to smoothly slide in the question she had wanted to ask all along. "If I may, how do you feel knowing that your cousin was involved in the very recent kidnapping of Lady Lara Croft in Singapore?" Lynn suddenly became serious.

She scrutinized Lara and asked, "forgive me, but I can't help notice that you look a lot like her."

Lara had prepared for this, smiling and answering off-handedly "oh, I get that all the…"

Before Lara could finish her sentence, she noticed rappel lines dropping in front of the large floor-to-ceiling glass window behind Lynn's desk. Lara's eyes narrowed, her hands reaching for the RGP pistols she had brought along. Black-clad figures wearing body armour and brandishing machine guns slid down the lines, swinging back and then smashing through the glass all at once. Lynn turned around, stunned, and yelled. The men opened fire, destroying the plush surroundings almost instantly. More assailants crashed through the skylight situated above the middle of the office. Lara turned round and opened fire. Alex helped out as well. Lynn reached under her table and activated a silent alarm. Guards soon entered the office but were swiftly dealt with by the attackers.

Lara heard the recognizable sound of a helicopter's rotor blades spinning. Tow of the assailants grabbed Lara's handbag, in it her laptop and the precious Crown of Utama. "Bloody hell!" Lara yelled. A third assailant grabbed hold of a shrieking Lynn Tan and caught the line hanging from the helicopter. They were winched upwards as the craft flew away. Lara opened fire continuously but to no avail. Both she and Alex were mildly injured. They looked around the room, now a complete wreck.

"Now what?" Alex asked.

Lara sighed, putting her guns away and pulling out her GPS-equipped PDA. "Least we know where they're taking her," she said, observing the faint blip on her screen that was being transmitted from the tracer Zip had hidden in Lara's business card.


	12. Pursued Again

Crown of Utama Chapter 12

Lynn struggled as two burly figures secured her in the helicopter. "What do you want with me?" She asked, frightened. The man sitting across her removed his mask.

"Relax; you can drop the act now." He was the man who had been spying on Lara and Alex the night before. Lynn's expression immediately softened, turning into a smile.

"You did well," she told him. "I'm almost certain our "Ms Ryder" is actually Lara Croft. She actually pulled out her guns!" She chuckled softly. "She's still fairly intelligent though. It won't be long before she figures what's going on. We have the crown; get rid of her and her pesky boyfriend as fast as you can." The man nodded.

"_Chai_," he answered, smiling. Lynn spoke into a radio device instructing the security forces to prevent Lara and Alex from leaving the building. The helicopter banked sharply and headed away from the city.

Alex stood gaping, staring at the shattered skylight. "So they've got the Crown, they have our laptop and they've kidnapped Lynn. The day is going better than I initially imagined."

Lara frowned. "You've got the first two right…I think Lynn kidnapped herself."

"Yet another one of those Remington Steele clichés," Alex sighed.

"Blake was almost definitely working for – or with – his cousin. The assailants blasted through the roof just when we were asking about him. They also headed straight for the crown and deliberately avoided injuring Lynn." Lara glanced up at a security camera turning to face them. "And I think security believes we're responsible."

Alex rolled his eyes. "As is always. So what's the escape plan this time?" Lara reached down and toggled the grappling device on her belt. She smiled, and Alex frowned. "No, not this again!" Lara looked out of the shattered window and worked out the angles. She frowned slightly.

"I think this time you may be right. I only have 30 ft of the cable." She walked slowly towards the window and glanced down at the large banner of Lynn's face along with the Rose Well shipping logo that covered the façade. "Unless…"

"Oh hell, no!" Alex exclaimed. The armed guards that had just burst through the door prevented anymore questions. Lara jumped and Alex followed, landing on the small ledge just below Lynn's office. Lara and Alex hurriedly undid the rigging that secured the banner to the building. Lara looked Alex in the eye, and he nodded nervously. Bullets whizzed above their heads as they took the leap of faith. This time would be far riskier than the jump from the shipping container they attempted in Singapore.

Lara and Alex held on tightly as they rode down, tearing the banner from the top down. Alex yelled as the wind ripped through his hair. Onlookers pointed at the two _farangs _travelling down the banner and shouted excitedly in Thai. The banner finally reached its limits. On Lara's count, they released they're gripped and fell through the awning, greeted by a surprised doorman. "_Sa wat dee kha_," Lara smiled. The doorman stood there, stunned. "Let's go," she said to Alex.

"_Bphai Nai_!?" A security guard demanded. What looked like a private army emerged behind him.

"Away from here," Lara replied. She took out one of the fragmentation grenades, removed the pin and threw it at the guards. Lara and Alex decided not to stay to watch the aftermath running into a crowd of stunned onlookers. As they ran, Lara doffed her jacket.

"Now is not the time for a striptease," Alex said. Lara shot him an ugly look and handed him her glasses. They slowed down, now indistinguishable from the crowd. This would buy them but a few precious minutes. Lara and Alex managed to squeeze through the crowd into Khao San road, Bangkok's backpacker's mecca. Tuk-tuks buzzed leisurely through the streets, and stalls hawking imitation goods and random souvenirs spilled into the street. Apart from their minor injuries from the encounter with the assailants, Lara and Alex blended in nicely into the mix of backpackers and more up-market tourists.

All of a sudden, Lara heard something that rendered her sick to the stomach. It was the sound of the helicopter rotors again and, craning her neck, Lara noticed the craft casting an ominous shadow on the street. Onlookers pointed up, surprised to see a helicopter flying this low. Lara's reaction was less of surprise and more of scorn. The craft was a tiny, one-man "Little Bird", used as a patrol chopper by the American Air force. This one was devoid of markings and modified slightly. Alex could see two concealed machinegun barrels built into craft. The pilot was devoid of emotion, his face mostly obscured by the helmet he wore. He banked the helicopter sharply forward and brought it close enough to the ground to cause panic. Some of the backpackers yelled and ran back into the hostels that lined the streets.

The pilot began firing. Bullet holes riddled the road, some destroying the makeshift roadside stalls in the process. Several Thai vendors were gunned down mercilessly. Lara and Alex ran as fast as they could away from the helicopter. Lara reached for her RGP pistols, then thought of a better idea. "Hold on," she instructed Alex. They backtracked unexpectedly, now directly underneath the helicopter. The pilot was momentarily confused, and that moment was all Lara and Alex needed. The distinctive whirr of the grapple device's motor was barely audible, masked by the noise of the helicopter rotors. The super-strong magnetic head wrapped itself around the sleds of the helicopter, and Alex and Lara ascended.

Now right beside the bulbous cockpit, Lara looked the stunned pilot right in the eye. Several shots from her pistol penetrated the toughened glass and killed the pilot. The pilot slouched forwards, unsteadying the helicopter. Lara and Alex attempted a tricky maneuver – getting into the helicopter. Alex made his way to the other side of the craft and pried the door open, getting in first. Lara hauled the pilot out of his seat, throwing his corpse onto the floor, much to the shock of the onlookers. Finally, the both of them were in the cockpit. Its controls were simpler than that of the Colibri they employed earlier in the mission. Lara pulled the helicopter away from Khao San Street and headed back towards the Peninsula hotel. "Damn, that was close," Alex, crammed into the seat next to Lara, muttered.

However, Lara soon found herself pursued by two similar helicopters. "They always insist on doing bloody dogfights," Lara said. The two helicopters released their barrage of ammunition, which Lara skillfully dodged. She reversed the helicopter so that it was now behind her two mid-air pursuers. Lara managed to take out the tail rotor of one, sending the tiny chopper spinning to its inadvertent doom. The glow from the small explosion confirmed that Lara had succeeded.

There was, however, still the matter of the one remaining helicopter. Lara led it into a narrow street, walled on both sides by tall office buildings. The pursuing helicopter struggled to stay aloft, its bullets shattering the glass façade of both skyscrapers. The Thai businessman in the street below them ran for cover. Flying a helicopter in these tight quarters was, however, something of a challenge even to Lara Croft. Fortunately, she managed to throw the Little Bird sufficiently off-course. It rammed into the office building, engulfing its side with fire.

Some minutes later, the battered helicopter came in to land atop the Peninsula Hotel's private helipad. Lara and Alex stepped out, greeted by the gaping-mouthed technician. "Long story," Lara smiled as she descended into the hotel proper.


	13. Skydive

Crown of Utama Chapter 13

Lara entered her room. It felt strange to back in the hotel after only a couple of hours. Then again, those couple of hours was as harrowing as they could get. The crown, her laptop and most hope of finishing the race as the victor had disappeared. The only consolation was that now they knew who the enemy was. That, and that the tracer was still transmitting. Lara pulled out her PDA. The location of the faint blip was now just off the port of Bangkok. At the bottom of the screen, a message alerted Lara that Zip was online.

"Progress report. What you got?" Zip asked in a carefree tone.

"'Progress' isn't exactly the word I'd use, Zip" Lara sighed. She related the entire incident to Zip over the PDA's microphone.

"Ouch. Bad guys have the crown."

"Not if I have something to say about it," Lara replied, her eyes lighting up. "Looks like we'll be leaving Thailand soon. Alex, get packing." A half-hour later, the pair had checked out of the Peninsula hotel, strolling across the lobby and out the door. A hotel limousine took them back to Suvarnabhumi Airport. Alex and Lara entered the terminal. Out of the corner of his eye, Alex noticed a man in a dark suit raising his hand to his ear. He decided to shake off the thought and proceeded forwards.

The man he had just spied spoke quietly in Thai. "They're here," he said, before disappearing into a shop nearby.

Pulling their luggage along with them, Alex and Lara were almost out of the main terminal. The sharp shattering of a glass window pane behind them stopped them in their tracks. Two men appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, holding deadly USP Match pistols. The sight sent the crowd running helter-skelter. Airport security personnel attempted to stop them, but were met with a bullet in the chest each. Lara's eyes narrowed. "Airport shootout," Alex growled.

Lara somersaulted, dodging the assassins' bullets. She pulled out the RGP pistols for what she hoped would be the last time that day. The airport was taking incredible collateral damage. Ceramic pots holding plants shattered and the LCD screens hanging above the various airlines' check-in counters fell to the floor.

Alex ducked into a souvenir store, with Lara following suit. The men crouched low, scanning the airport. By now, most of the tourists in the area were leaving or proceeding into the concourse. Lara's pursuer entered the shop. A shelf filled with boxed Thai snacks fell in a sputter of bullets. The man's head snapped around. He was a trained assassin, and being outfoxed by a woman would be a great shame. He inched around the rows of shelves, past a rack of magazines. Alex came out behind him, putting him in a choke hold. Lara toppled a rack of magnets onto the assailant.

The nervous lady at the cahier ducked, avoiding the skirmish of bullets from the man's partner who had just entered the shop. A well placed shot disarmed the man, who cried out as his gun clattered to the tiled floor. Alex leapt out, pinning him to the ground. The man was soon knocked unconscious. "Let's go," Lara said to Alex.

A terse announcement was audible over the PA system, first in Thai and then in accented English. Before the announcer could finish, a thick cloud of smoke formed. The attackers began choking. Through the cloud, Lara could see Thai Special Forces moving into the airport. She decided to let them deal with their attackers and ran towards the concourse where their aircraft was parked.

Lara was relieved to be inside the Gulfstream V once again, but knew it was no time to relax. She briefed the pilot on the procedure that would soon take place. It was not one to usually happen on luxury private jets of course, but Lara was never one to stick to convention. The pilot nodded, expressionless. Nothing could faze anyone who had worked with the Countess. Lara walked to the back of the plane where the equipment was stowed. The craft began to rumble down the tarmac. Lara was glad to leave Bangkok behind. The land of smiles was certainly not as friendly as she hoped.

The craft entered up into the stratosphere, travelling through a lattice of clouds. The boats below appeared as mere dots out the rounded windows of the Gulfstream. One of them was the New Genesis, as a few taps on the keyboard of another one of Lara's laptops revealed. The New Genesis was the ultimate destination for the helicopter that had "abducted" Lynn Tan earlier on. It was a standard-sized supertanker registered to Rose Well Shipping International, carrying cargo but no doubt modified to serve Lynn's means, whatever those were. The supertanker was also Lara and Alex's destination.

How they were going to get there was something different altogether.

The plane was now several thousand feet in the air. This was going to have to be as precise as it could get. Lara inspected the suit she would be getting into. It was developed by Zip, who had tested it himself. This fact gave Lara little comfort, but at least she was not as reluctant as Alex was. He sulked, flipping off the television set. Both of them had gone skydiving and BASE jumping before. Lara had even leapt off the Two-ifc in Hong Kong some years back. But this was a whole new experience.

Some minutes later, Lara and Alex emerged kitted out in the specialized precision skydiving suit. They looked utterly out of place in the plush surroundings of the Gulfstream. In Lara's mind, though, there was little difference between jumping from this plane and from a Hercules C-130. Lara opened the door. Unlike what was commonly depicted in films, the cabin did not rapidly depressurize. The pilot glanced behind and gave Lara a thumbs-up. The wind blew wildly in her hair. "You sure about this?" Alex asked, peeking over the edge. Lara smiled and pushed him out of the craft. His yell reverberated through the thin air. Lara leapt, splaying her arms and legs.

The air seemed to still, even though Lara was plummeting at an unimaginable rate. She glanced at her altimeter. The ships in the water below came towards her, albeit slowly. Lara saw Alex deploy his chute some distance beneath her. At the designated deployment-altitude, Lara pulled her pilot-chute from the bottom of her backpack rig. The pilot-chute caught the wind, pulling the pin out of the closing loop and releasing Lara's deployment bag. The parachute lines yanked loose, and the canopy began to open. The safety mechanism known as a slider slowed the opening of the chute. Lara braced herself for the few seconds of intense deceleration, while the parachute slowed her descent.

Lara pulled on a bar and the parachute was released, catching the wind and falling into the sea behind. The last segment of the jump would be accomplished using the jetpack that Zip had developed. Lara took a precious couple of seconds to grapple with the jetpack's controls, and then brought herself down to a soft landing on the deck of the New Genesis. Across the deck sat the same helicopter which "abducted" Lynn Tan earlier. At least this confirmed they were in the right spot. Alex was already waiting for her. "That was fun," Lara said. "Into the belly of the beast," she smiled. Alex shook his head and followed her into the supertanker. Unbeknownst to them, a tiny concealed surveillance camera swiveled slowly, following their movements.


	14. Man Overboard

Crown of Utama Chapter 14

The New Genesis was classified as a Very-Large Crude Carrier, the official shipping term for a supertanker. In practice, such ships were used to carry crude oil, up to two million barrels at a time, but Lara knew this one was different. On the surface, however, the New Genesis was as ordinary as any tanker could get. It was 300 metres long and about half a football field wide. Lara and Alex crossed a narrow, stark white corridor characteristic of such ships. They were utterly out of place in their jumpsuits and knew they would be dealt with on-sight. Making it slightly worse was the fact that neither knew their way around the gargantuan ship. Moving swiftly down the hallway, Lara was relieved to find a door marked "uniforms". Lara and Alex moved quickly, kitting themselves up in the same attire that the other men and women on the ship donned.

"Now, to where?" Alex asked Lara.

"We'll figure it out," she muttered as they continued walking. The hallways seemed to go on forever. Lara knew she had to somehow make it to Lynn's private quarters, either that or the command bridge of the ship. She knew the crown would be kept safely where Lynn could keep her eyes on it.

Lynn peered into the monitor in front of her, showing Alex and Lara's entrance some minutes ago. She was in the bridge of the ship, which was unlike any other. It was state-of-the-art, lined with more control banks and monitors than a supertanker ought to have. "So they're in," she sneered. "All the better. Least I won't have to find test subjects." The corners of her mouth twisted into an evil smile.

Lara and Alex entered the ship's galley where various crew members were having their lunch. The space was large and minimalist, reminding Lara of a prison's mess hall. Perhaps she would be able to find some clues here. Lara got into the line, with Alex behind him. She deftly nicked a security pass from the pocket of the man in front of her. She reached the front of the line and helped herself to the items on offer that day. There were twenty or so people in the galley. Lara figured that the staff needed would not necessarily be large. Most supertankers could be manned by just one person after all. Lara took her plate and sat down, Alex next to her. Lara inspected the pass, turning it over in her hands. The card would doubtless offer her access to areas she would otherwise be unable to reach.

"What you got there?" Alex asked, peering over Lara's shoulder. He smiled. "Ah, playing Artful Dodger are we?"

Lara frowned. "Quiet Alex." Lara reached into a pouch in the uniform and pulled out her wallet. She kept a few spare passport-sized photographs in it, and glued one over the photograph of the man in the security pass. She put the pass aside and ate quickly, surveying the galley as she did so. Lara finished and put the plate in a nearby rack. She glanced around and saw that most of the personnel had now left the galley. Her eyes narrowed. It could well be a trap.

Lara left the galley with Alex following her. The maze of corridors had to lead somewhere. Lara passed by a room and tapped the security pass at the sensor. The door beeped and they entered. The room was actually just a stairwell, its walls covered with flaking yellow paint. Humming could be heard in the distance. Lara and Alex proceeded all the way down. As they reached the bottom of the stairwell, they found themselves inside the ship's engine room where most of the ship's major machinery was located.

The engine room was an unpleasant space, hot noisy, grimy and – as Lara was quick to remind herself – potentially dangerous. Generators whirred, and fuel purifiers gurgled. Across from the room was a small air-conditioned control room from which most of the machinery was operated. Lara decided that would be where she was headed. It was imperative to disable the ship at all costs, hopefully stalling Lynn's progress. Lara strode across to the room, tapping her security pass once again. The operator glanced nonchalantly in her direction. Lara delivered a kick to the unsuspecting man's head, rendering him unconscious. She then surveyed the controls, looking for the switch which would disable the main engines.

The lights were suddenly switched off, throwing the galley into pitch darkness "What the…" Alex yelled. Lara flicked on her personal light source, illuminating the space in front of her. She drew her pistols and opened fire, though at what or at whom Lara didn't know for sure. A silver glint caught Lara's eye, and she ducked just in time to avoid the blade of a katana – a sword similar to the kind employed by the ancient Samurai. Lara spun round, delivering a roundhouse kick to her assailant. He dodged it. The man obviously had training and was probably schooled in the ninja arts. The sword then sliced through a bank of controls, sending small sparks into the air. Using ninjas to dispatch of her marked a new high in the amount of oddities she had encountered on this trip. The assailant could have easily dispatched of Lara but simply knocked her out. Alex received the same treatment. The men nodded to each other and dragged Lara and Alex out of the control room.

When they came to, they found themselves in the command bridge. Lara and Alex found themselves with their hands bound behind their backs and kneeling on the floor. Lynn Tan stood before them, holding the crown in her hands. The crown glistened in the low light of the bridge. "Lynn," Lara spat. "The crown. Why go to this much trouble to get your hands on it?"

Lynn simply smiled. "You will be rewarded with a demonstration in due time. But first Lady Croft, I have to inform you that your…antics in Singapore and Bangkok have cost me a great deal of time and money."

"If only we had cost you more…" Alex scowled.

"All that will soon be resolved. I'm sure, Lady Croft, that you of all people know that knowledge is power."

"And as with all the delusionals with whom I've dealt, you aim to become a god."

Lynn ignored her. "So I decided some reading up would do me good. I started with my favourite subject – ancient South-East Asian history. Then I came across the crown, and with a little bit of educated guessing deduced the powers it holds. What use is knowledge if not applied? The water spirit which was finally satiated when Utama's crown was thrown into the water has the ability to create freak weather phenomena."

"And how would you find that useful?"

"If you recall, I am in the shipping business. And bad weather tends to be bad for business – the business of my various rival companies, that is. I can summon the sinking of all other ships that paddle the international lines, leaving Rose Well Shipping the uncontested champion."

"You're insane," Alex spat.

Lynn slowly shook her head. "There is a fine line between insanity and genius. And now, the demonstration I was talking about earlier."

Two burly men hauled Alex and Lara to their feet, marching them out onto the deck. The sea was choppy and unwelcoming. Lynn exited the bridge behind them, slowly reciting an incantation in ancient Arabic. An unearthly green aura seemed to emit from the crown, floating menacingly into the ocean. It bubbled ferociously at the point of entry. Lara and Alex were pushed into the ocean, which was becoming increasingly tumultuous. "See this as consolation," Lynn yelled over the edge of the ship. "At least in your dying moments you will be immersed in the power of a priceless artifact!" With that, she went back into the bridge.

"We're officially in deep water," Alex sighed.


	15. Docking Bay

Crown of Utama Chapter 15

The water began to churn beneath Lara and Alex as the New Genesis turned away. It felt like something between a storm and a whirlpool, and one which was beyond Lara's power to combat. Desperate, she reached for her magnetic grapple device. The cable shot out, the super-strong electromagnetic head attached to the hull of the boat. Lara wrapped her arms around Alex, who was finding it hard to stay afloat as well. The winched whirred, but the tiny electric motor was unable to combat the surge of the water. The tip snapped back, defeated. "Have a Plan B?!" Alex asked over the raging water.

Lara glanced at the ship leaving them behind. She thought back to the schematics she had briefly glimpsed while on board. Would it work? She shook ahead and decided it would be their only chance. "Dive," she commanded Alex.

"What?!" he asked bewildered.

Lara went down and he took a deep breath and decided to follow anyway. The water beneath them continued to churn, but somehow it felt better than struggling to stay afloat. The low visibility in the murky ocean was made worse by the incessant bubbling. Still though, the looming hull of the New Genesis was hard to miss. _If entering from the top did not work, maybe coming in from below might, _Lara had thought to herself. The large propeller of the supertanker whirled ominously, trying its best to pull them in. Lara and Alex avoided it. Now that they were closer to the ship, the churning caused by the mysterious aura from the crown had more or less ceased. Lara wondered how much longer she could hold her breath. She was used to staying for longer-than-usual periods underwater, but the sting of the saltwater was burning her eyes. She glanced upwards, and was relieved to find light pouring in from what seemed to be a large, rectangular opening in the bottom of the ship. She pointed upwards, and Alex formed an "ok" using the international diver's sign language. They surfaced.

Meanwhile, Lynn was in the bridge, smiling to herself. She was hoping to savour the moment of Lara and Alex's defeat. "Boss, something I think you should take a look at." Lynn strode over to one of the banks of monitors that showed feed from the ship's surveillance cameras. The man who had called this to her attention pointed to a screen labelled "submersible docking bay C" Lynn peered at the screen, unable to believe her eyes. The grainy footage showed Lara and Alex bobbing up and down in the patch of water. "Shall I close the bay doors ma'am?" the man asked.

"I've got one better," Lynn scowled.

Lara took a moment to take in her surroundings. Apparently, she was in a submersible docking bay. She glanced up and saw a submersible suspended on a rig overhead. It was unlike anything Lara had ever seen, sleek and advanced. It was also rather large, an anomaly among craft of the type. The craft was, in fact, a heavily modified version of the _Blotniak_, a one-man wet-cabin type submersible. It had been modified to fit two pilots and was a dry-cabin model instead.

Lara heard the distinct mechanical sound of a catch releasing. She glanced above her, and then yelled "Alex!" A panic-stricken look across his face, Alex made for the sides of the pool as fast as he could, as did Lara. The submersible seemed to fall in slow motion, making its impact felt. The harsh splash of water stung Lara's face. The mammoth submersible bobbed up and down in the water, the churning of the bubbles around it beginning to die down. The logo of Rose Well Shipping International stared Lara in the face, as if mocking her. Alex began to climb out of the docking bay. "Not there," Lara said, pointing to the submersible. Alex smiled and nodded, swimming over to it.

Lynn observed the scene from the command bridge and swore under her breath. "Don't let them leave alive," she said, barely concealing the venom in her voice. "Use whatever means necessary."

Lara and Alex unlatched the cockpit and climbed into the craft. It was surprisingly roomy, unlike most other submersibles in the market. She took a moment to familiarize herself with the controls. "You know how to drive one of these things?" Alex asked quizzically.

"I might," Lara replied smiling. She pushed a button and the cockpit closed. All of a sudden, armed guards burst through the door on the far side of the docking bay.

"Over there!" their leader pointed. They began opening fire incessantly, but to no avail. The bullets made small dents but were unable to penetrate the toughened bodywork of the craft. Lara reached for a switch, and a barrage of machinegun bullets was released from the submersible's in-built turret. Alex was surprised at the craft's capabilities. Lara toggled the depth gauge and they were ready to descend. "Damn," he muttered. "We've lost them," the leader of the guards spoke into his microphone.

"No matter," Lynn growled, saliva speckling her lips. "Send the other subs after them."

The submersible sailed through the water, its twin propellers spinning like clockwork. Alex leant back in the modified _Blotniak. _Lara pushed on the joystick, propelling the submersible through the depths. She flicked a switch and two high-powered headlamps flashed on, illuminating the water in front of them. Lara looked closely at the joystick. A label indicated a switch for missiles. "Better and better," she smiled.

"Not better," Alex said, looking over his shoulder. "We've got serious company."

Two missiles whizzed by, leaving a trail of bubbles in their wake and narrowly missing the submersible. Lara glanced in the rear-view monitor to find they had been shot by a similar submersible, now in hot pursuit. More missiles came at them. Lara turned the submersible around on a dime, firing two successive shots. They hit their target, turning the pursuing submersible into a ball of flame that was quickly quenched. Bubbles fizzed to the surface and the submersible sunk to the abyss.

Lara had no time to savour her victory; however, as two more submersibles began closing in on her. Unwilling to repeat the failure of its predecessors, the submersibles swerved stealthily. They launched their projectiles in quick succession, but succeeded in doing nothing more than scaring away a school of fish. Lara was pushing the modified _Blotniak_ to its limits. Another missile scraped the logo off the side of Lara's submersible. She hoped it was somehow symbolic of the corporation's defeat.

Apparently, Lara's adversaries had realized that they were going about this the wrong way. Divers dressed in what looked like Navy SEAL frogman suits swam up to the submersible. They were palming circular devices. "Damn, limpet mines!" Alex realized.

"You know what this means," Lara said, reaching for a button. Alex took in a gulp of air. Lara opened the cockpit and they swam out as fast as they could. The frogmen attached the mines a second too late. The submersible blew up beneath them, as they kicked desperately to the surface. The heat radiated through the icy ocean in a surreal manner. Lara's hand closed in on a button on her belt. They bobbed uncertainly in the water, waiting for help to arrive. Sure enough, the Gulfstream V swooped in overhead. Relieved, Lara shot the grapple into the air and she and Alex were pulled to safety. The frogmen surfaced and pointed upwards in frenzy. Lara glanced down and winked. Alex closed the Gulfstream's door behind him and breathed. He then slumped himself in one of the seats and closed his eyes. In the meantime, Lara was anticipating what she hoped would be their very last meeting with Lynn Tan.


	16. Showdown

Crown of Utama Chapter 16

"Where to now, Lady Croft?" the pilot asked from the cockpit of Lara's executive jet, a Gulfstream V.

"We'll have to find out, won't we?" Lara replied, soaking wet. She was still shaken by the tense submersible chase, and a look out the window did nothing to calm her nerves. Lynn Tan stood on the deck of the New Genesis, holding the crown above her head. Alex also seemed to notice this bizarre scene.

"What the hell is she doing?" he asked. The unearthly green wisp that formed around her seemed to answer his question. Lara was experienced enough to know that Lynn was probably being possessed by the _Hantu Air_, or water spirit, that was contained in the Crown of Utama. Past encounters with foes who had tried to harness ancient powers they knew nothing about had not turned out well for either Lara or her adversary at the time. "Hell, step on it!" Alex yelled towards the cockpit. The pilot nodded and began ascending as far away from the New Genesis as possible. Catching Lynn Tan could wait for another day, Lara thought to herself. Still, she sincerely doubted that would be the case.

On the deck of the ship, one of the supertanker's captains rushed out of the bridge and onto the deck. He was clearly taken aback by the sight of a possessed Lynn Tan. "Boss! What the…" Lynn reached behind her and with a flick of her hand; the man flew backwards into the ship's metallic wall, denting it. He fell to the deck, unconscious. Lynn was now almost engulfed in the deadly aura, which began snaking upwards into the sky. It seemed to be reaching out for the Gulfstream.

Inside the plane, Lara saw the aura slowly surrounding her plane. She felt sick to her stomach at the thought that the horrendous plane crash she had survived when she was nine would be repeated now. Lara felt the plane creaking. "Everyone bail out!" she yelled. The plane began to jarringly bend in the centre. Lara donned the jetpack Zip had engineered and prayed there would be enough fuel to get her to safety. Even though the only landing spot in sight was the supertanker itself, Lara knew it was worth risking. She leapt out of the Gulfstream, followed by Alex and then her pilot, who was wearing a standard parachute.

As they cleared the craft, Lara could hear the excruciating sound of twisting metal behind her. The green mist, whatever it was, had folded the plane in on itself, as incredible as it sounded. The unearthly force pushed the two halves of the plane together, tearing it apart and mashing it together at the same time. It was not long before the plane failed altogether, and fell out of the sky like a wounded bird. The mass that hurtled towards the ocean was now unrecognizable, leaving a flaming trail in its wake. Lara swerved to the side to avoid being hit by what remained of her executive jet. Unfortunately, her pilot did not have such luck. The last thing he saw was the source of his occupation, now returning to bring him with it to its grave. He was crushed by the wreckage just moments before it splashed into the sea below, some distance from the New Genesis. "No!" Lara exclaimed. She knew all to well that if the villainous shipping magnate was to have her way; it would be her and Alex falling out of the sky next.

Sure enough, the wispy green entity snaked up towards Lara, looking like ghostly tentacles. Lara maneuvered desperately to avoid their grasp, but to no avail. The tentacles tossed her around like a child's toy. Lara tried her best not to be distracted, keeping an eye on the ground. However, she was feeling increasingly disoriented. In a moment of desperation, she reached for her pistol and fired it into the air, hoping to scare the entity off. Sure enough, it loosened its grip on Lara. She righted her jetpack and, with just metres to spare, landed safely of the deck of the New Genesis. Alex touched down just after she did.

However, "safe" was probably not the best of words to use. Lara found herself, for what she thought was one too many times that day, face-to-face with one of her most formidable adversaries to date. And "formidable" was not a word that cropped up often in Lara's vocabulary. Lynn was now wrapped in the mist emanating from the crown she held high above her head. She appeared to be in a trance, muttering some sort of ancient incantation under her breath. Time seemed to slow as she leapt into the air, jumping a distance far beyond that of normal human achievement. The green mist left its wake behind Lynn. Lara's eyes narrowed as she readied her twin pistols. Alex stepped backwards, clearly intimidated. The sky around the New Genesis seemed to darken, as the _Hantu Air _caused the water to swell. A storm of supernatural proportions seemed to brew. _A dramatic setting for a dramatic confrontation_, Lara thought morosely to herself.

Lara emptied the clips of both her pistols into her target, but the aura seemed to dissolve the bullets in mid-flight. Lynn continued to spin in the air, landing just in front of Lara and throwing her 20 feet across the deck of the New Genesis. Lara got up and brushed herself off. The storm continued to brew around the supertanker, flashes of fluorescent green lightning permeating the ominously cloudy sky. Lara removed the pin from one of her fragmentation grenades and threw it at the swirling green mass. Alex ran as far away from Lynn as he could. The grenade seemed to do no damage as well. Lynn floated above the deck, semi-solid green tentacles reaching out and tossing Lara in the air. Lara corrected herself and landed on her feet. It began to rain – not a drizzle, but a torrent. Lara's hair was now plastered to her face, her uniform soaked through.

Suddenly, Lara came up with a plan. "Alex, help me out!" She threw him a gun and they continued firing even though it was evidently useless. While deterring Lara and Alex, Lynn retreated slowly but surely across the deck of the ship. As it grew more irritated, the _Hantu Air _made the storm swell to mammoth proportions. The waves raged, crashing against the New Genesis. Soon, the supertanker seemed to be no more than a ferry in the hands of the savage water. Lara persisted, and the beast grew no happier. Lynn continued lashing out. The deck around her began to break up. The decks below seemed to show damage as well. Lara finally pushed Lynn back to the bridge, which towered over them. Lara removed the pins from all her remaining grenades and threw them in quick succession.

But Lynn Tan was not her target.

The grenades hit the bridge, their combined impact like a small bomb, quickly toppling the towering structure. It careened towards the deck, and fell atop the possessed Lynn. The already-weakened hull structure of the battered supertanker began to break up. Lara knew this was her cue to leave. "Alex!" she called out.

"Lara, I'm here!" Alex was pinned beneath a fallen bar. Lara rushed over and heaved with all her strength, finally extricating Alex just before the ship was fully ready to meet its doom. As if on cue, a helicopter appeared overhead, battling the winds and raging downpour. From its markings, Lara recognized it as a Thai Navy chopper. She could barely make out Ahmad, directing the chopper to where she was. She waved, and the rescue helicopter began to lower a basket. Lara and Alex climbed into it as it began to winch upwards. Lara and Alex had just enough time to witness the utter decimation of the supertanker and their latest foe. The ship broke in half dramatically, shards flying into the damp air. The two halves were consumed by the raging waves in the blink of an eye, as explosions shot up into the air from it. The basket was finally winched up into the helicopter.

"Ahmad! Am I glad to see you," Alex said as he climbed out.

"Thanks for coming," Lara said to him.

"No problem at all," Ahmad replied. So Lara, anything else I can do for you?

Lara wrapped herself in the towel she was handed. "All I want now is a nice, warm bath."

"Do I get to join you?" Alex smirked.

Lara scowled and Ahmad laughed as the helicopter flew back towards the mainland.

The crown sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and glowed one last, ominous time. The _Hantu Air_ was back at home.

-END-


End file.
